Thursday, May 24, 2012

Being in the desert for the spring, summer and fall is a sad state of affairs, when you wake up to other peoples finds on your phone. I got this text at 5am (AZ time) from Miss Kathleen, whose back east until Saturday...and nothing has shot me outta bed faster. This is a Dryad's Saddle (Polyporus Squamosus) an edible polypore, at the perfect stage for picking and eating. Some might say this isn't a very tasty mushroom, but given the right recipe, it is rather tasty!

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Lots of the music i enjoy slows the work a bit here on the farm, but not WEEN. They get me through the tough days and with Gene Ween's new album, recorded in rehab here in Arizona, the days are getting even brighter. Check it out: 'Marvelous Clouds', released under Gene's real name, Aaron Freeman. It's a well crafted change from the madman himself, breathing new life into his own versions of works by Rod McKuen.

Friday, May 18, 2012

Worked like mad framing out the laboratory today, tomorrow we shall frame up the Antechamber...with my pal LEE, the best goddamn framer in the states! Got the mold proof sheet rock and super glossy paint...all should be done by the middle of next week and then we can jam in the giant HEPA Laminar Flow Hood/table and many shelves for grain spawn and incubating substrate!

Monday, May 14, 2012

Awe, how the days pass...my last reference to SLIDERS was making 'Home Run Slider Burger' signs for Trader Joe's back oh so many months ago! Anyways...all three sliders are up for the grow rooms. I think that the seal on the sliders will benefit the positive pressure environment and since the rooms are already inside of a barn, no need to keep the rooms super dark and covered from the sunlight.

I also got all of the supplies for the Laboratory yesterday...framing, PRF board, high gloss paint, all the makin's for a large Laminar HEPA Flow Hood and everything else!!!!!!!!!!

Saturday, May 12, 2012

So i've been taking Ganoderma Lucidum (Reishi) pills which is essentially G. Lucidum mycelium grown on rice, ground up and put into pill form. I can't say i noticed much of an effect on my 'general wellness' until i stopped drinking my daily cup of Yerba Mate. So I stopped the MATE MANIA and finally notice over the last few days an increase in my stamina throughout the day. When I'm usually on the verge of passing out standing up at 8pm from working since 5 am each morning, i was quite pleased to realize that the G. Lucidum might be effecting my system in the way i had hoped.

In Asia where the Reishi has been considered a magical sort of 'cure-all' mushroom for many many years, the specific part of the mushroom and the preparation have always been largely considered in prescribing it for certain ailments. Cultivating for the 'Antlers' versus for the cap formation are considered to be used for different purposes as well as tea vs. alcohol tincture. I purchased a few dried Reishi from Mountain Rose Herbs out of Oregon and they arrived today, so i made a vat of tea for the week to test to difference between the pill and the tea. Then i will make a tincture combining the tea and an alcohol concentration and compare the noticeable results based upon a daily rendering of notes about my alertness and such throughout the day.

Simply simmering ground up dried Reishi allows water-soluble Polysaccharides a.k.a Beta-Glucans to benefit the the person drinking it by stimulating the immune systems ability to fight infection, inhibit tumor growth, lower blood pressure, stabilize blood sugars as well as a list of other benefits. To access the Triterpenes (steroid-like molecules) that inhibit histamine release and have anti-allergy and anti-inflammatory properties that help protect the liver, you let the crushed up dry Reishi stew in 100 Proof Vodka for approx. 2 months in a dark warm place. Then you strain the Reishi pieces and powder out. To get all the effects that G. Lucidum has to offer, it's best to take the discarded Reishi powder and pieces and boil them for two hours to make a tea...mix the Reishi infused vodka and water at a 50/50 ratio and you have an extremely effective and pure tincture that can be added in drops to a glass of water or juice.

Im not sure of the benefits and differences between just ingesting the Mycelium in pill form versus a tea/tincture but soon i will find out!

Thursday, May 10, 2012

So I made this 'Myco-Hortus' sign over
the weekend...with a great big Amanita Muscaria for the front of the
grow barn and got it up there this morning. Then I framed out the
three grow house fronts for sliding glass doors that I will be
installing tomorrow. I thought I would get the basic growing info on
the blog in terms of the fungal species I'll be growing if there is
any interest:

Shiitake (Lentinula Edodes)

We will be growing out Shiitake
mushrooms on a 6 lb sterilized block substrate mixture of Alder chips
and sawdust and Rye Bran yielding approx. 3 lbs per block. Our
Shiitake grow room will be housing 550 blocks.

Spawn Run:

Temp: 70-80 Degrees F

Relative Humidity: 95-100%

Duration of Spawn Running: 35-75 days
depending upon the strain (warm/cold)

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

A Mushroom? A Cacti? Well, they both contain a large percentage of H2O!

And some Idiot years ago decided to shoot one with a shotgun and it landed on him killing him quite quickly! Guess he deserved that! Since this cactus is a small one, about 150 years old and weighs about a Ton, it takes a rare breed to decide to take one on in a gun bout!

Friday, May 4, 2012

Today was a productive day, I got all of the parts necessary to set up my drainage system. Put three separate P-Traps together to protect the individual grow rooms from gaseous back leak and T'd into the main septic line that gives the mushroom houses it's own tank.

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

SO the inside of the grow rooms are complete...next ill seal the concrete floors and work on the drainage to sink and cement in a pipe and T out to a trap that keeps anything from coming back up into the grow rooms. We are also considering sliding glass doors for each of the grow rooms, since they have a great seal and provide you the ability to look into the grow rooms without having to break the positive room pressure. Also put the majority of the metal on the outside of the laboratory/grain incubation room today.